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Adrift
Adrift is a short story set within the V Osade Alternate Universe and is MAZEKA's entry to FireDrag's writing contest. This story is currently non-canon in FireDrag's universe. Story Part 1-Survivor Pain... Noise... Movement... Explosions... More pain... Drifting... Drifting... Drifting... The Toa of Water was barely aware of her feet scraping against the sand beneath the waves. She tried to stand but was knocked down by that strange, unstable, feeling that even a Toa of her element gets when first setting foot on solid ground after time spent at sea. She somehow managed to half-swim, half-drag herself onto the beach, not even attempting to her to use her elemental powers. The Toa lay there, her torso lying on the beach, Kanohi pressed against the wet, coarse, sand, while the waves lapped gently at her waist. After so long floating across the silver seas her limbs refused to obey her. She was so exhausted that she didn't even notice herself drifting of into unconsciousness... Fighting! Shouting! Cries of pain! She heard someone call her name; Maya. Memories flashed before her eyes like lightning bolts. Vivid bursts of color and confusion, gone before she had time to process them. Some part of her tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Boats? Laser boats? Rahkshi? Snakes? Rahkshi snakes? The more she tried to focus on a memory the further from her grasp it slipped - like a piece of driftwood being swept out to sea. The water draws out, taking the driftwood with it, then rushes back in, the wood again accompanying it. In and out, in and out. But each time further out to sea than in to land. Until, eventually, it vanishes from sight. The Komau wearer awoke with a start. Lykos! Lykos, that word kept running through her head, accompanied by a mix of fear and dread. Yet, she could not understand why, or what that word meant. Again a part of her tried to figure things out, and decided she was in shock. Toa Maya painfully raised her head, aware of the grit and sand covering it. Ahead of her lay a narrow beach which, in turn, gave way to dense woodland. She dropped her head back to the sand, with the side of her kanohi pressed against it this time. Maya dragged her arm into view and realized it was shaking violently. As she focused, she realized her whole body was shaking. Maya relaxed once more, enjoying the oddly calming sensation of the water nipping at her half-submerged body. Time passed but how much time she didn't know. It could have been minutes, or hours... She dipped in and out of consciousness, and each time she slept, the more she remembered. These memories were however rather jumbled and meaningless. Eventually she managed to raise her head once more, resting it in the palm of her hand. With the other hand Maya picked up a small stick and tried drawing in the sand, partly to test how much control of her limbs she had regained. Her first attempts turned out as nothing more than disorganized scribbles. She tried again and again, becoming mesmerized by the task at hand. Maya felt her mind wandering and when she did bring her attention back to the sand, she discovered herself to have drawn a small village, her village. Piers stretched out over the sea with small boats tied against them... What was she doing? Doodling in the sand! Suddenly all the events that lead to her arrival on this beach came into focus. She was in danger, she needed to move! Maya tried to drag herself out of the water, bad idea. She cried out as a searing pain sprang to life in her left thigh. The Toa lay there, gasping, before slowly rolling onto her back and painfully sitting up. Maya looked down at her leg and when she saw the wound, the pain seemed to intensify. On the inner thigh of her left leg was a deep, crimson, gash about three inches in length and one inch across at its widest point. The Toa also noticed a large cut that started at the front of her thigh and ran diagonally up to her hip.There were also several smaller wounds sprinkled across her lower legs. Maya skimmed through her memories to try and discover how this had happened. She had been on a boat, a fishing boat, filled with Matoran. They had spotted smoke in the distance, some rather fearsome battle appeared to have been taking place. She'd turned the boat around and they'd started back towards the Southern Continent. Maya remembered turning around, after hearing cries of alarm, to see that a Lykos Destroyer was giving chase. She could think of no reason for the Lykos to attack them other than That they thought she and the Matoran were involved in the fight. They had fired their plasma cannons and the wooden fishing boat being ripped apart by the first shot. The deck beneath her feet had splintered, sending shards of wood flying, and she had been thrown overboard. Well, at least I know where the wounds came from The Toa looked around and spotted a plank of wood that must have drifted to shore with her. She reached for it, trying not to scream as she did so, and grabbed it just as the water began to snatch it away from her. Once more she could have used her elemental powers to aid her, but Maya was not confident that she would have been capable of mustering the levels of concentration required. She relaxed once more, gasping, before unsteadily getting to her feet. Using the plank as a make-shift crutch, Maya managed to hop to the nearby trees and ducked down behind a gnarly, windswept, bush. Satisfied that any approaching Lykos would be unable to see her, She sat down. Maya took a closer look at the wound in her thigh and was dismayed to see that it was covered in sand and would have to be cleaned. Not only that, but a large splinter of wood at least a long as her thumb and nearly as wide, was embedded in the wound and would have to be dealt with as well. If she didn't get rid of it the wound could easily become infected. Maya gritted her teeth in preparation. She had no idea whether there were Lykos already on the continent, but if there were, she didn't want to draw their attention with her screams. She got a firm grip on the piece of wood and yanked hard, ripping it free. Despite her best efforts to remain silent, she let out a cry of pain that sounded impossibly loud in comparison to the silence that had encompassed the woods. Still groaning she looked back at the wound, which was now bleeding freely. Despite the new pain that was now creeping its way through her body, Maya felt a sense of relief, as if the wound were already healing. The next stage was to clean it. Once she was ready Maya managed to spray a thin stream of water into the wound, washing away the sand and smaller splinters. Although this too was painful, it was far more bearable than pulling out that piece of wood. She washed her other wounds and pulled some smaller splinters from the many cuts covering her lower legs. Based on what had happened, Maya was just relieved that she still had lower legs. Maya lay back against a tree and let out a sigh of relief, but knew she could not relax just yet. The wound in her thigh now had a steady stream of blood spilling out. She needed to stop the bleeding or the wound could still kill her. Maya looked above her at the long narrow leaves of the trees and managed to cut one down with her now-active elemental powers. The Toa picked the leaf up and tested its strength. Comfortable with its durability, she rapped it tightly around both of the wounds on her upper leg, tying it in a knot to form a bandage. Her other smaller wounds were not as serious, so she didn't bother tending to them. Maya's body was telling her, no screaming at her to rest, but she knew that she had to get away from the beach. If the Lykos arrived and she was still so close, she would never be able to outrun them, particularly with her wounds. Abandoning the wooden plank, Maya picked up a more conventional fallen branch and hobbled of into the murmuring woods. Part Two-Test of Honor The Toa of Water was near to collapsing when she quite literally stumbled upon a bush of bula berries. She had been walking for what she estimated to be a couple of hours. The leaf-bandage on her leg had turned red not long after she had set of but there was nothing she could do about that now. Her only hope was to find a village. Maya trekked on through the familiar terrain. She lived in a small fishing village somewhere to the west of her current location. A line of woodland ran round the coast, but soon gave way to dry deserts and the mountainous terrain of Voya Nui's outer edge. As she walked her eyes scanned over every detail of the forest. A lifetime living in this environment, both as a Matoran and a Toa, had taught her all the forest's secrets; a set of claw-prints set far apart showed that a predatory Rahi had passed through, most likely on the scent of some other creature. She heard the buzzing of Acid Flies, spotted two Dagger Spiders fighting over a kill, saw the claw marks an Ash Bear had scratched into a tree to mark its territory. With the right eye and a good sense of what to look for, anyone could tell that there were no Lykos around, not close by at any rate. Maya continued, reassured, but not letting herself assume she was safe... A choice that proved to be a valid precaution. The first sign of trouble was the birdsong, or rather, the lack of it. Not long after she began to hear the battle taking place. Amongst the cries and shouts, Maya heard the sizzle of plasma and saw smoke rising above the trees. She had found the village. Maya approached as quietly and carefully as one can when favoring an injured leg. Although she was dismayed that she felt this, she was glad that it was not her village being attacked. A group of Lykos stood before her, tearing up the village. The dry, wooden, huts were set ablaze all too easily by the Lykos plasma. The remaining Matoran huddled in small clusters, there routes of escape blocked of. The Lykos were not trying to kill the Matoran, they were making an example of them. Maya could only assume the village had been harboring a survivor of the earlier battle and, sure enough, a tall red and gunmetal armored being lay dead on the ground, along with the village's Toa team. But the Lykos had taken casualties too. Maya saw one lying dead on the ground, its chest and half its face burnt away. At least two others were seen to have been wounded, their honor equally damaged. Maya was too caught up in the battle to hear the sound of approaching feet until it was too late. She turned to see three more Lykos approaching, one of which stood out from the other two. While his armor was of the same colors as the others, his was sporting gold accents. On his hip was a sword, a type Maya had seen before. With the push of a button the entire blade would be enveloped in plasma. The third unusual feature, the one that scared her most, was the cloak. Running down to just below his waist and made of various Rahi pelts and furs, sewn together in an untidy fashion, its ugly design was clearly deliberate; it had been specifically made to intimidate his opponents. Maya wondered if the cloak was made of the skin of his enemies too... She had no time to hide, and there was no chance of her running. Maya only had one option. She ripped of the bandage around her leg and tossed it away. Falling down at the foot of a tree, she lay still... She was going to play dead. Maya felt the Lykos approach, heard them slow as they passed by. She prayed they would not notice the shallow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. After what felt like an eternity, she sensed that the three had passed. Not daring to move, Maya cracked her eyes open just enough to see what was going on. The Lykos in the village all placed a hand above their hearts, some Lykos sign of respect perhaps? The one wearing the cloak returned the gesture, but with his hand below his heart. The cloaked one, obviously the leader. Spoke in his native tongue to one of the other Lykos, throwing the odd, distasteful, glance at the cowering Matoran, who had been rounded up into a tightly packed bunch. Maya did not need to speak Lykos to know what it was they were discussing, they were deciding the Matoran's fate. Maya knew she had to do something, but she also knew any action would be crazy. Slowly, she rose to her feet, well, foot and branch. Every sane inch of her body was yelling at her to stop, but Maya knew to do nothing was to fail her duty. By now the Lykos had spotted her. Two soldiers lumbered over to her, but she hobbled straight past, not even giving them the pleasure of a slight glance. The Toa of Water made straight for the Commander, staring him in the face. Maya saw something in his eyes, she could place it as nothing short of disappointment. She stumbled right up to the brute, trying not to look as scared as she felt while continuing to stare up at his enormous head. "To what do I owe the... honor of being graced with the presence of a Toa such as yourself?" He chuckled in perfect matoran, simply to mock her. "Might I ask the name of a... Mighty being such as yourself?" "Maya, Toa of Water. I would ask the same of you?" "Verkatis, Commander of the Vekestos Paketo. What is your purpose here, if not to surrender to the might of the Lykos Kinsmen?" "I wan to challenge you..." She started in a weak voice before being cut of by an outcry of laughter from the surrounding Lykos. Lykos were stronger, faster, and more advanced than any other species in the universe. And here was a Toa, who couldn't even stand without the aid of a stick, challenging their Commander to a duel? The Commander raised a hand to signal an end to the noise. "And you believe yourself worthy to fight me, did you hurt your head as well as your leg? You should bow down and pray for mercy!" Another outburst of laughter from the crowd. "I thought Lykos were beings of honor, but clearly you have none if you will not fight me. One might even say you were... afraid," Maya drew out the final word in a playful, mocking, tone of her own... An act which she would quickly come to regret. All humor in the Lykos Commander's eyes instantly melted away, replaced by something far colder. "Oh, I will fight you. Your blood shall boil by my plasma in the name of the mighty Lykos empire! what are your terms?" He said in a cold, emotionless voice. "If I win, the Matoran and I go free, you do not harm us, or any other beings on this Continent." Maya said the words calmly and evenly, well. She tried to but she could not stop her voice from trembling. "And if you lose?" The Lykos commander snarled. "Do what you want with me," she said, as if it was matter of fact, not life or death. The Lykos' mandibles twisted in what could only be a smile. "Agreed." Part 3-The Duel Verkatis undid a clasp on his cape, pulling it free of his shoulders and handing it to one of the on looking Lykos soldiers. His right hand went to his waist and slid his plasma blade from its sheath. The blade itself was so carefully crafted that just looking at it sent a chill down Maya's spine. However this chill was quickly burnt away by sheer terror as brilliant green plasma began to encase the blade. The weapon seemed to be burning the very air which surrounded, but Maya did not need to smell the blade, nor see the haze around it, to feel the intense heat emanating from it. The Lykos who had been conversing with Verkatis earlier, perhaps the second in command, stepped forwards and handed her its weapon. The blade was long and heavy in her hands, designed for a Lykos, not a Toa. It took all of Maya's strength just to keep it in the air, which meant dropping the branch she'd been using for support. Trying to only put her weight on her right leg, she met the Commander's gaze. "Begin," he ordered. Verkatis stood a few paces in front of her. The other Lykos had formed a ring around them and were eyeing her up, seemingly placing bets on how long she would last. Maya could not walk forwards, so she let the Lykos Commander come to her. He swung his sword in a casual ark, knocking her own sword from her hands and sending her sprawling. The crowd laughed as she cried out in pain. Verkatis could have sliced her in two with one swing, but instead he had merely tapped at her blade. Obviously he didn't want the fight to end too quickly. Maya stood up and swung at him, hoping the sudden action might catch him of guard. But he merely stepped back, letting her own momentum bring her down once more. Verkatis let her rise to one knee before bringing the hilt of his sword down onto her head. Maya crashed down once more, seeing stars before her eyes. "Ready to stay down Toa?" Verkatis jeered. Some of the Lykos were laughing, while others seemed to be goading their commander on, telling him to make the kill. Maya rose to her feet, trying not to give in to the pain in her head and the pure agony in her leg. Fighting to remain upright she swung at Verkatis. He blocked and she swung again. Another weak swing that he blocked. The third time he twisted the blade from her hands before throwing a punch that hit her right shoulder and sent her spinning to the ground. Maya cried out, vision blurred, unable to rise again. "Ready to concede?" Verkatis asked before receiving a jet of water to the face. The Lykos Commander waited, patiently, for her to finish. Maya dropped her hand to the ground as the last of her strength drained out of her. The Commander raised one hand and wiped a single drop of water from his mandibles, it was such a calm action that it filled Maya with sheer terror. Verkatis stared at her, his eyes seemed to draw her in. Two dark, bottomless, pits of pure hatred gazing right into her soul. More hate than she thought it possible for one person to feel seemed to fill every inch of that Lykos' being. He had not been harmed physically by the blast, it had not even knocked him back a step, but Maya had humiliated him in front of his fellow kinsmen. She might as well have walked up to him and punched him in the face. Verkatis walked up to her and placed one foot on her injured leg. Maya cried out as the Commander applied more pressure and leant down to whisper in her ear: "You are going to regret ever crossing paths with me, Toa!" he spoke the words with a silent malaise. He stood up, removing his foot from her leg and Maya cried out once more, clutching at her wounds. Then Verkatis spoke, addressing the crowd of Lykos surrounding them: "Round up the Matoran and take them to the ship, they are now prisoners of the Lykos Empire. As for her," he said turning to face Maya. "She is to be taken to the Void." Part 4-Adrift Maya had heard tales of the Void. Horror stories told round a campfire. It was said to be the Lykos' most punishing prison. Only their most dishonorable of foes were taken there. Some would try to kill themselves to escape their fate, others would even try to bargain with the Lykos, swearing their allegiance to them. Maya also knew it was a place where prisoners withholding information were taken... and broken. But she had no secrets to tell, she would not be able to get herself out. She was an example, to all in the universe, of what happens to those who disrespect the mighty Lykos Empire. They had not even put her in the brig. Maya was standing on the deck of the Lykos Destroyer, powerless to do anything. Verkatis had allowed her to remain free for a reason; he wanted to show Maya just how hopeless her situation was. Escape was only a few meters away from her, but it might as well have been a few miles. However, the Lykos Commander had made one mistake, he thought he'd broken her. Maya had a plan, if it did not save her it might at least save the Matoran. The Lykos knew full well that she was in too weak a state to manipulate the sea around them, or else they would have taken further precautions to prevent that. But Maya only needed the slightest control over her powers to accomplish what she had planned. The only thing stopping her was timing. She could attempt her plan now, but run the risk of not being able to pull it of and achieve nothing but reveal it to them. Or she could wait and hope for the right circumstances, but then she ran the risk of leaving it to late. Maya eventually decided on the first option. Behind them the Southern Continent was beginning to shrink from view, if she didn't act now it would be too late. In front of her, a few bios away, was a Lykos plasma cannon. Its huge frame a clear reminder of Lykos ingenuity. But this mighty piece of machinery did have one weakness, even Lykos armor plating cannot withstand the extreme heat of plasma. The turret, and every other one on the ship, used water to cool the weapons down. This was what she would use to liberate the Matoran. Only having the strength to focus on the Turret in front of her, Maya cut of its water supply with her powers. Lykos passed to and throw, going about their various jobs, completely ignorant to what she had just done. The next phase would draw a little more attention... Maya spotted a lone Lykos soldier, a low ranking one from the look of his armor, standing by the Turret she had just tampered with. Mustering all the concentration she could, Maya activated her Komau and entered the mind of the Lykos soldier. Turn around. Turn around! She insisted. The Lykos was resisting, but his mind was weaker than hers. Slowly, he obeyed. Praying that the others would not notice the odd behavior just yet, Maya continued. Turn the turret! The Lykos soldier could do nothing but obey her and so began to turn the turret until it was facing the rest of the ship. The Lykos knew something was going on now and some seemed to realize her involvement. Sensing she was losing control of the Lykos' mind, and running out of time, Maya sent one final command: Fire! A brilliant stream of plasma shot forth from the turret, hitting a second on the starboard side of the ship. The Lykos firing the turret regained control of himself and stopped. But the lack of a cooling system meant the casing had over heated. A small crack appeared in the turret, then another and another. Plasma stream out, one blast hitting the unfortunate Lykos whose mind she had taken control of, causing him to stagger away, crying out in pain. The second turret, melted by the blast of the first, was also spilling its contents onto the deck. Maya was knocked to the ground, partly by the chaos around her, partly by the exhaustion caused by using her Kanohi. It didn't take long until the Lykos seemed to be getting the situation under control, but then an explosion rocked the ship. The plasma had eaten through the deck and had hit something below. Maya was flung across the deck and landed at the feet of none other than, Verkatis. "If these are to be our last moments, then I shall die knowing that I first avenged this ship and my fallen brethren!" The Lykos Commander raised his sword but was hit from behind by the blast of a second, much larger, explosion. Inadvertently, the Lykos Commander had protected Maya from the blast, which would most likely have killed her. As it was she was sent flying overboard and as she fell, time seemed to slow. She turned her attention to the Destroyer. smoke rose from the front of the boat and a hole could clearly be seem in the hull. But the damage was minimal and the ship would not sink. On the deck she saw Verkatis unclasp his burning cape and throw it to the ground. The last thing she saw, and she couldn't be sure that she had, was a group of Matoran swimming from the vessel as fast as they could. Then she hit the water and Maya sank deep into the murky depths of unconsciousness. At least she had the satisfaction of not feeling dead, but neither could she be sure that she was alive. She was just, drifting... drifting... drifting... Epilogue Maya awoke onboard a boat, not the Lykos Destroyer, she never would find out what had happened to it. Instead it was a boat from her village. The village's second Toa and some Matoran had come looking for the fishing boat that had been caught up in the Lykos-Daxian war, not that they had known that was the fate of the voyage. Maya was surprised to find she had no serious injuries, at least, no more than she had been before the explosion. Even more surprising than that was the fact that she was still alive, but she could get her head round that later. They returned to their village only to find it, and the surrounding woodland, had been burnt to the ground. Knowing there would be no survivors in amongst the steaming remains, the group set sail once more, eventually arriving on the Northern Continent. Somewhere along the way Maya picked up a 'Tidal Chain', to replace her previous Toa Tool. Her wounds continued to heal, the wound in her leg leaving her with nothing but a scar and a slight limp that would stay with her for the rest of her life, but the experience came back to haunt her almost every night. Maya helped her brother-Toa and the Matoran construct a new village on the Northern Continent, before leaving the villagers in her brother's capable hands. Maya set out to explore this new land, seek out its secrets and find a way of stopping the Lykos. When the Lykos attacked the Northern Continent, Maya joined the war effort to drive them back, her fate remains a mystery. Characters *Maya *An unnamed male Toa. *several unnamed Matoran. *several unnamed Toa-deceased. *Tobduk-deceased. *Verkatis. *Several unnamed Lykos. Trivia *The main character of this story was originally planned to be a Toa of Magnetism, this was later changed to water. *This story is set shortly after the Lykos-Daxian war. *The story was originally planned to end with part 4, but MAZEKA decided to create an epilogue explaining what happened next in case the story somehow wins 1st or 2nd place in the contest. *When writing this story MAZEKA had not finish reading Declaration, having done so now he realizes that Zilotis stand on a wound in Polemistis's leg in a similar way to Verkatis standing on Maya's wound. He also did not know that Predavis had a Rahi-fur cloak like Verkatis does in this story.